Stem cell cure for hearing loss in aged

In a first of its kind study, a team of scientists in the UK have tried to "grow" new stem cells in the ear that get damaged with age, a finding they say could help combat hearing loss associated with old-age.

Researchers at Keele University found that in some cases hearing begins to decline when fibrocytes - cells in the inner ear - start to degenerate with age.

Once these cells die and don't function correctly, other parts of the inner ear can become permanently damaged, leading to increased loss of hearing and possible deafness, said the researchers. Dr Dave Furness and his team have begun research which will explore whether replacement fibrocytes and fibrocyte stem cells can be successfully grown and implanted into the ear.

If successful, the research could pave the way towards the prevention of age related hearing loss, Furness said. "We set out to explore why deafness occurs as a result of aging and what we discovered was that fibrocytes, the part of the ear involved in managing fluid composition in the cochlea, do degrade due to old age," Furness said.

Once this happens, he said, it causes hearing sensitivity to decrease. 

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Gene therapy for blindness clears hurdle in mice

researchers have used an experimental therapy in mice to shut down a gene that plays a crucial role in a leading cause of inherited blindness.

The technique, detailed in an upcoming issue of Vision Research, involves injecting the eye with a bit of genetic material called interfering RNA, which helps disable the gene.

Normally the gene is essential for healthy eyesight, but mutated versions of it are passed from generation to generation in some families and can lead to blindness.

Disabling the gene is a step toward developing a gene therapy to treat people with retinitis pigmentosa, an inherited disease that attacks the light-sensing cells in the eye. It affects about one in 60,000 people, with an estimated 1.5 million people afflicted worldwide.

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